Unpopular Opinion: Heated Rivalry

Its a good movie but i think calling ifr fe changing yada yada is too mich because the plot is very basic: sex, love the acting tho buy actual substance is very less callong it masterpiece is a lottle bit far fetched i think

I didn’t watch it because my sister says it’s nothing special and she quit after one ep i guess. I saw some clips on it but didn’t get excited like when I see Takeuchi Ryouma’s sexy belly dancing (￣∇￣")

Hello?! Belly dancing um-u-u-u-um… where can I watch this…

Netflix - 10dance but not belly more like pelvic dance

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HD_r4o_QMJQ&pp=ygUUdGFrZXVjaGkgcnlvbWEgZGFuY2U%3D

People died (づ￣ ³￣)づ

Our king Takeuchi, truly

I loved it and I actually DO think it's history making. It's very much the first MAINSTREAM show to be focused on queer love and reach this level of viral success.
I'll ramble later on, but I'd say it is historical because of a collection of factors alligning:
1- it is a queer romance. A story that could not be told (wouldn't just fail, it could NOT exist) if it was subtext or not-queer or even other flavor of queer.
2- it doesn't end in tragedy, debauchery, comedy, it is a romance, from beginning to end.
3- the current political climate, worldwide but specially in the biggest anglophone market, USA, having a unabashed, unashamed GAY show be this big.
4- gay sex not being treated as scandalous or pornographic. Never. Not once.
5- this was not mass promoted. This was, in fact, not promoted at all. You feel like it is being shoved down your throat? This isn't stranger Things being shown on TV, this is 100% organic, everybody is watching and sharing. The last time a show had such an organic growth and spread was with SKAM (but SKAM was Norwegian and we live under USA's neocolonialism so if they don't consume, other countries are less likely to distribute it and they are filled with xenophobics who refuse to read subtitles, so this is much, MUCH bigger than skam could have ever been)
6- it dares to go to a place like hockey, where, to this day, even wearing rainbow is refused, throwned upon. This is worse than cowboys in BM, because back then being gay was throwned upon every where. Now we are in the "rainbow capitalism" era and we still see how much male sports avoid it, but hockey most of all has teams making excuses to actively go against any attempt at promoting and supporting lgbtq+ pride.

I do think this is doing for THIS generation of teens what Broke back mountain did for its (and what Cmbyn did to its, which is a shame as it came out not far from moonlight, a MUCH better representation that didn't get the deserved rave because of racism, so also, let's celebrate having Shane as a main character, an autistic man of color written and presented as desirable)

I would not put neither pose nor rwrb on that list, personally, because of general impact, specially when compared to the other listed ones, and also genre/plot.
I think what truly sets HR apart is that it is, above all, a romance.
I saw a lot of people talking about IWTV, pluribus, yellowjackets "oh it is also queer stories" but the thing is, those same stories COULD be told with straight characters or with their queerness as subtext, because of the genre. Maybe they'd fail, fall flat, but could still be told as the same story. This is a romance story, it wouldn't just fail, it could not be told if they weren't queer.

And in comparison to other queer romance series, this really broke containment. And with NO promotion, this was entirely word of mouth, no "shoving down our throats", this was purely people sharing to the point where the big guns (late night shows, golden globes) could no longer ignore (HBO only did a billboard in their building and a short video taken from Crave's YouTube content weeks after buying the distribution rights, so really, NO official promotion/advertisement)

It IS historical to have a queer show where sex is never shameful (like in broke back mountain, it is just as hidden but neither feel shame about it), their attraction to each other is never played for laughs (which does happen in but I'm a cheerleader), and doesn't concern itself with tragedy, it aims and it delivers queer joy, it is very painful to watch Shane medicated being full of affection when he can't be like that always, it doesn't ignore the real life fucked up circumstances, but it is not a sad piece, it refuses to be, it acknowledges all the hardships and it drives itself through it.
And is just, from the get go, first 7 minutes, undeniably queer. Set in a HIGH PROFILE SPORTS, which in real life has never had a player (active or retired) come out as achillean of any kind. It is historical because of how big it got. Massive. Huge. To the point where you can say "shoving down our throats" when the show has no promotion! That's how big it got. That unabashedly queer ROMANCE from a unknown Canadian streaming service? On the morning news. In this political climate. God, it just FILLS my chest with pride. Yeah, fuck it, we needed a show this fucking gay doing these crazy numbers.

Regarding the sex, I genuinely don't think there's too much, it's 5 chapters (excluding ep3), we get a chapter with a glimpse of sex, a chapter with no sex elat all, and a chapter with celebratory sex, the first two are there for a VERY clear plot reason. Most of all, it's queer sex, never treated as shameful and it's beautiful to see a show that is this sex positive without being extreme, full of kinks or dangerous sexual practices.
Back to the PURPOSE on the sex, I LOVE their approach to it. As someone who's asexual, a romantic and often sex-repulsed or apathetic with what we see on movies and TV shows, I find it fascinating and incredibly tasteful. It is never uncomfortable or gratuitous or feel unecessary, which is insane. It NEVER feels unecessary. This is a story that could not be told without the sex or with glimpses only.

I'm not against sex scenes as a emotional catharsis or as fanservice, I think it's great! But that's just never the case with HR, it's always serving the storytelling. They are highly choreographed, with few improvisation moments, all that tells you a lot about the characters, their relation with each other, their sexualities, the world, sex itself, etc. which is why I get really annoyed watching reactions of people who don't pay attention because, hey, this is not about Hudson williams' back arch, this is about Shane willing to submit to his rival, after losing to him, because in that place, the pressure of being number one, the humiliation of crawling does not exist, in that room, after asking to be in a place without windows, he can exist outside of anyone else's eyes and THAT is who he truly is.

For Alkmene, I think your sibling was likely watching while doomscrolling, is what I've noticed from a lot of people who gave up on the first ep and picked up later on. There are a LOT of time jumps, and we only see them on the moments they are together or that directly impact on how they see each other, so it is a VERY unique character-driven tale.
Its weight is mainly felt when you give attention to the characters instead of being scandalized or horny, the acting is brilliant, all around, some people genuinely miss very simple things (yes, Shane got hard first on the shower scene, that's why Ilya raises his brow. Yes, Ilya recognized Miles because he is an actor in the Xsquad movies. Yes, Ilya tried opening up to Shane in LA, but realized Shane, with his perfect family, wouldn't understand, etc etc etc).
God, I forgot what I was even yapping about, lol, I just love it A LOT.


It is one of the best told romances I've seen in YEARS. Like, full on romance (top 5 of my favorite TV shows include Hannibal and IWTV but one is a policial horror romance and the other is a Gothic horror romance). It really is just very tasteful and respectful to the genre. Of course, the cinematography is also top notch, but yeah, as someone who always found pure romance (with very few exceptions, almost all Eastern since western television and cinema don't treat romance with half the reverence they do) to be just ok to pass the time, to see when you are bored with nothing else to do, HR feeling like something you'd want to stop other things to watch is such a unique feeling, wow.

Holy fuck, I got excited. Do NAWT answer me, yall, I'm in hyperfixation heaven, lol, don't even need to read this.

I really respect your passion for it; there have been so many things I’ve read/watched that have moved me similarly. I even agree with certain points you made (specifically the hockey aspect and that there is no need to make a joke of gay love/sex as I am bisexual!)

Does not change my opinion unfortunately, as someone who is an extensive reader (foreign and domestic) who also did give the series a fair watch since my friend seriously promoted it to me. I thought the acting was shoddy on Shane’s side (which was so interesting since in interviews he’s so dynamic!) and they didn’t have chemistry.

Again, only my personal opinion when comparing it against other media critically and could also have to do with an age gap. As you said, this may be geared more towards the new generation!

Thank you for your breakdown and viewpoint!

Sorry I can’t read all of it but pretty sure it’s not thr first mainstream queer show. Have you seen queer as folk? It’s about a group of queer people though but there are love stories in there and one of the best scripts I’ve seen. I’m talking about the American version though. English one was good too and it’’s the original but it wasn’t that focused on relationships

Women will watch anything with two guys kissing

Even young royals, its the actual peak of queer media.

I do know there are definitely fetishizers on every level (hence my reference to the BDSM community with the 50 Shades) but being bi I don’t really care who is doing it as long as it’s portrayed realistically.

I liked it. I think that heated rivalry it’s been such a success because it feels organic. It’s made by and for the lgbt community, also, it’s been a success because most of the media uses de lgbt as a “plot twist” or something similar. Idk… this series felt like HOME hahah

Makes sense, just trying to speak to why it's as popular as it is since you were saying it's everywhere despite not being that high quality in your view. There's a reason there are more female viewers than male

Oh no for sure I knew what you meant!

(Stalking your profile) BUT YESSS OMG im so sick of people saying that its the BEST bl when it really isnt its super cute and ofc im very exited for the next season but honestly, its just the typical enemies to lovers thst you can read anywhere. I feel due to the cast being majorly non american is a huge

(Stalking your profile) BUT YESSS OMG im so sick of people saying that its the BEST bl when it really isnt its super cute and ofc im very exited for the next season but honestly, its just the typical enemies to lovers thst you can read anywhere. I feel like the cast being majorly non american is a huge factor as to why its so popular.